Football players and fans return to Israel after Amsterdam attacks against Israelis

Players and fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club returned to Israel on Friday (November 8) after overnight riots against the group's supporters in Amsterdam in what officials said were antisemitic attacks. Maccabi Tel Aviv's Eran Zahavi said the violence was a "disgrace." "Our crowd felt very threatened and there were horrors taking place, and that's a shame. They came to watch soccer and that's what happened," Zahavi told the press upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport. Dana, a mother of a boy who attended the game said his friend was held by a violent mob demanding he recites 'Free Palestine' until he was let go. "It was a nightmare and it was very well planned," she said. Kobi Eliyahu, who attended the game, described what he saw afterwards. "I saw people get beaten, I saw people get inside the hotels and lock themselves, I saw people threw, they threw people into the water, the freezing water, and they drove on people and they stepped on people. It was like the 1940s," he said. Amsterdam mayor said the Israelis had been attacked by what he called "antisemitic hit-and-run squads," and banned demonstrations for three days from Friday. The police arrested scores of suspects. At least five people were treated in hospital but were all released later on Friday. Antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since Israel launched its assault on Gaza after the attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Hamas group on Oct. 7, 2023. (Production: Jill Gralow, Rami Amichay, Michal Yaakov Itzhaki, Avivit Delgoshen)